It was Alona Levcenko’s dream to visit Africa. To help animals. To travel the world.
Those dreams were cut short in June 2020 when Levcenko was the passenger in a Lamborghini going 90 mph in a 35 mph zone off Bird Road in southwest Miami-Dade. The car slammed into a Miami-Dade County Solid Waste Authority truck. Levcenko, 27, never had a chance.
Levcenko’s sister, who lives in Italy, granted her first interview Monday since her family settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the vehicle’s driver, John Aks, for $4.5 million. The plaintiff’s lawsuit was handled by the Fort Lauderdale firm Kelley/Uustal.
“She was generous. Beautiful, inside and out. She had so many dreams,” said Julia Levcenko. “She was really a very special person.”
Alona Levcenko was born in Latvia and moved to Italy as a young adult. She came to live in South Florida in January 2020, just five months before the crash. She lived in Pompano Beach and worked as an administrative assistant.
Attorney John Uustal said he wasn’t sure how she knew Aks, but they had not known each other long. Efforts to reach attorneys for Aks were unsuccessful, and he is still facing a criminal charge in Miami-Dade for vehicular homicide.
“My heart is broken,” the victim’s sister said. “My sister has a lot of friends who miss her. I still speak of her in the present tense. I know she’s gone. but she will always be with me.”
A trial date for Aks, 38, was not listed in the Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts website.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.